Tina Brown gathered her staff at The Daily Beast this afternoon and confirmed press reports that she is leaving its parent entity, I.A.C., to start her own company.

In a brief meeting, Brown told employees of the five-year-old website that she had been planning to announce the news tomorrow.

Buzzfeed's Peter Lauria (who used to work for The Daily Beast) scooped her by reporting this afternoon that I.A.C., which is chaired by Barry Diller, does not plan to renew Brown's contract after it expires in January. Hadas Gold of Politico subsequently reported that Brown will launch Tina Brown Live Media.

Brown, who was once editor of The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, told Daily Beast staff she will take her successful Women in the World Conference, and its staff, with her, according to a source who was present at the newsroom gathering.

MORE ON CAPITAL

ADVERTISEMENT

Rhona Murphy, The Daily Beast's C.E.O., said during the meeting that there are currently no plans to close the site, which is still in the process of extricating itself from Newsweek, and that a budget was being planned through 2014, the source said.